There are various discharge systems in the prior art.
For instance, patent DE3130308 C2 already discloses a device for discharging defective products from a conveyor belt. In this device, the discharging operation is carried out by discharge elements that are driven by a linear motor. The discharge elements are arranged on a guide track leading to the conveyor belt and can be collected in the manner of a magazine. For the discharge of a defective product one of the discharge elements is guided on the guide track towards the product which is then pushed by the element by way of physical contact onto a transportation belt extending in parallel with the conveyor belt. The individual discharge elements are rigid; the pushing onto the transportation belt is just accomplished through the inclined position of the guide track.
The device has the advantage that the discharge segments are individually controlled and can effect the discharge. It is however not possible with said device to perform discharges onto a plurality of transportation belts. Moreover, it is also difficult to integrate the device into different processes due to the necessary inclined position relative to the transportation belt because the speed of the products and the length of the discharge path determine the necessary discharge speed and thus the inclined position of the device for the discharge.
EP1012087 B1 describes a device in which one or plural discharge segments which are movable in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the transporter are guided in a carriage in transportation direction. When the carriage is moved in the transportation direction with the same speed as the products to be discharged, these can be discharged by way of the extensible discharge segments onto different discharge belts.
Due to the movable discharge segments this device makes it possible to carry out a discharge also onto several discharge belts. Furthermore, in this device the extension speed of the discharge segments and the speed of the carriage can be adapted. However, there is a latency time between different discharge operations for the device because the carriage must first be moved back into the initial position. To minimize this latency time, one possibly needs correspondingly high discharge speeds in a direction perpendicular to the movement direction of the products on the transporter, which poses problems especially in the case of lightweight or fragile products. It also turns out to be a drawback that even with only one defective discharge segment the complete device is subjected to a standstill time for the necessary repairs.
It would be desirable to have, a device for discharging products, particularly product containers such as bottles, from a transport path, which device can be used at high operating speeds and allows a flexible discharge as well as high reliability and also short standstill times in case of repair.